As Jim Overman, a military optometrist, unwound the bandages from Hawkeye's eyes a million thoughts ran through his mind, most of them terrifying. A unique sense of dread he had never experienced before in his life ran throughout his whole body like a lightning bolt. And just as quickly as the dread had appeared, it vanished. Not because he wasn't afraid anymore, but because he wouldn't allow himself to feel such a painful emotion while still sober.

Hawkeye's rush of thoughts and feelings quickly came to a stop when the optometrist finished unraveling the bandages. "Are you ready Captain Pierce? Shade your eyes."

Hawkeye did what the doctor suggested and placed his hand gently over his eyes like a makeshift baseball cap. Another twinge of dread surged through his body as Doctor Overman gently took the gauze off his eye lids.

"Now Captain, open your eyes, slowly."

Hawkeye did as the optometrist ordered. He opened his eyes, and quickly closed them again, blinking them several times as he got used to the feeling of having them open once again. But he already knew the result. He just didn't believe it. He withdrew his hand from his eyes and stretched it out in front of him. Squinting, he looked at his hand. Nothing. Nothing at all. His first thought was "dammit". But he didn't say it. He said something only Hawkeye would say in such a situation.

"Hey who turned off the lights!" As the words came out of his mouth Hawkeye's tone rapidly dropped from his usually sarcastic and witty tone to one of sheer depression and disappointment. Even Hawkeye couldn't fake a joke about this. An eruption of concerned sighs and gasps followed.

"Hawk, are you... sure?" BJ asked as he leaned forward and rested his hand on Hawkeye's shoulder. Hoping that just maybe, this one time, Hawkeye's intuition was wrong. As he felt his best friend's shoulder muscles tense BJ immediately regretted the statement he had just made.

Hawkeye was already past the initial shock and disappointment and had moved on to anger. "Of course I'm sure, they're my eyes aren't they! Or at least they were, until this lousy police action took them from me, just like everything else!" He was seething. He would have grabbed the nearest object and hurled it across the room had he been able to see one he was so angry.

"I think it'd be best if you all left now" chimed in the optometrist for the first time since the reveal. "I know you are all very concerned about your dear friend, but I do have some follow up examinations to make." Bj patted his newly blind friend on the shoulder and left post op along with the other camp members who had come along to see the results of their dear friend's tragic accident.

Once everyone had gone and post op was again quiet the optometrist then took out is retinoscope and shone it in Hawkeyes left eye, then his right, examining them both carefully in search of any sign of hope for the talented surgeon's vision. After asking Hakweye a few simple questions He found that there was no hope; the physician's vision was gone. Not just ruined, he was pitch black blind with no hope of ever regaining his sight.

"So doc, what's the verdict, will I ever regain any of my sight? Be straight with me, I can handle it." Hakweye was once again calm, eerily calm for Hawkeye Pierce.

"I'm... I'm sorry doctor but, no...The heat from the blast completely destroyed your retinas." He paused. "You will never see again. I'm sorry." No matter how many times the doctor had broken news like this to his patents, it never got any easier.

Hawkeye nodded and swallowed the lump he had in his throat since before the bandages even came off. He understood the doctors words, but he didn't feel anything. The unusual dread he felt just minutes earlier was replaced with a strange hollowness. He wasn't mad anymore, he wasn't afraid, and he wasn't even sad. He was just...blind. This was his life now. And in that moment he accepted it. He lay back in the cot he had been sitting in and closed his eyes. His useless, useless eyes he thought to himself.

The military optometrist got up and left the room, he had seen enough cases like this in his career before to know the man just needed some time. And as the man left the room, back on the cot a single tear rolled down Hawkeye's cheek.

AN: Thank you for reading! it's my first attempt at writing a fic so I hope it wasn't too terrible, haha. I wrote it so I could go on with the story if anyone was interested or just leave it as a little one shot alternate ending. So if you would like to read more of this story please let me know! Thank you!